Iga Swiatek beats Rafael Nadal and Max Verstappen to win European Athlete of the Year
Iga Swiatek has been voted as the 'Athlete of the Year' by PAP Poll defeating the likes of Max Verstappen, Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz.
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Iga Swiatek, Rafael Nadal and Max Verstappen - FirstSportz
Polish player Iga Swiatek remained the dominant player on the WTA Tour. She clinched two singles Grand Slam titles and six other WTA singles titles. Her undefeated 37-match winning streak is the longest WTA record in the 21st century. She attained another achievement by becoming the Athlete of the Year as voted by one of Poland’s leading news agencies.
She gained the No 1 rank after Ashleigh Barty’s sudden retirement in March. Since then, Swiatek has retained her position as the top-ranked player for more than 30 weeks. She became the fourth female player to achieve this feat. Moreover, the Pole’s 18-match winning streak in the clay season ended with her loss at the Poland Open. She had a 67-9 win-loss record in the season. Her rule in 2022 has been almost unchallenged.
She received the ‘Athlete of the Year ‘ award in the 65th edition of the annual poll. The poll was held by Poland’s PAP news agency, which includes votes from 26 European news agencies. She became the eighth tennis player to receive the prestigious award.
She defeated the likes of F1 champion Max Verstappen who had a triumphant 2022 season winning 15 races and securing the World Drivers’ Championship at the Japanese Grand Prix. Carlos Alcaraz is 4th on the list despite winning his maiden Grand Slam and becoming the youngest year-end World No 1. Rafael Nadal placed 5th although winning two Grand Slam titles to lead the tally of most Grand Slam wins by a player in the Open Era.
Before Swiatek, Djokovic was the winner of 2021 which was his 4th award. Nadal won the honor two times and Roger Federer is the recipient of the award 5 times. Additionally, she became the fourth Polish player to win the prestigious award after football player Robert Lewandowski, long jumper Zdzislaw Krzyszkowiak, and sprinter Irena Szewińska. Moreover, she has also been voted the Player of the Year at the 2022 WTA Awards.
Iga Swiatek gears up for the upcoming season after a successful 2022 campaign
Despite being one of the most successful players of 2022 she finds herself 5th on the Forbes list of highest-paid female athletes. The US Open winner ended the year with more than 11,000 rankings points. She became the second player to achieve this feat other than the 23-Grand Slam champion, Serena Williams. This difference itself shows the consistency and dominance the Polish had on the WTA tour.
As the 2023 season is just a few days away, Swiatek will be looking to replicate her success of 2022 in the upcoming season too. US Open finalist Ons Jabeur will be the player to look for who can challenge Swiatek’s rule in 2023. Caroline Garcia and Aryna Sabalenka who are ranked 3rd and 4th respectively will also give a tough challenge to Swiatek. But it will be a task for them due to the difference in ranking points.
She led her team Kites into the finals of the inaugural season of the World Tennis League. However, she lost to 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina of Team Hawks in the finals. The 3-time Grand Slam champion is the top-seed player at the 2023 Australian Open. She was the semifinalist at Down Under last year and would be hoping to win her first title at Melbourne Park.
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